Why had I asked if Larry could go along? Because I knew it would please him. It might even make up for treating him so badly in front of Jason. But standing there, sensing Dorrie Bouvier's power hanging like a ghost in the air, I wasn't sure it was a good idea. Oh, hell, I knew it wasn't, but I was going, and Larry would go, too. He had a right to go. He even had a right to endanger himself. I couldn't keep him safe forever. He was going to have to learn to take care of himself. I hated it, but I knew it was true.
I wasn't ready to cut the apron strings, but I was going to have to lengthen them a bit. I was going to give Larry the proverbial rope. Here was hoping he didn't hang himself.
Chapter 22
I slept most of the day, and when I woke up, I discovered that nobody would let me come play. Everybody was running scared of the Quinlan lawsuit, and I was persona non grata everywhere I tried to go. Agent Bradford sent me packing, and threatened to have me jailed for obstruction of justice and hampering a police investigation. That's gratitude for you. The day was a bust. The only person who would talk to me was Dolph. All he could tell me was that they hadn't found any sign of Jeff Quinlan, or his sister's body. No one had seen Magnus either. The cops were questioning people, searching for clues, while I twiddled my thumbs, but neither of us came up with anything useful.
I watched darkness fall with a sense of relief; at least now we could get on with it. Larry had gone back to his room. I hadn't asked. Maybe he wanted to give me some privacy with Jean-Claude. Scary thought, that. At least Larry was talking to me. Nice that someone was.
I opened the drapes and watched the glass turn black. I'd brushed my teeth in Larry's room today. My own bathroom was suddenly off limits. I just didn't want to see Jason naked, and I certainly didn't want to see Jean-Claude. So, I borrowed part of Larry's room for the day.
I heard the bedroom door open but didn't turn. Somehow I knew who it was. "Hello, Jean-Claude."
"Good evening, ma petite."
I turned. The room was almost in darkness. The only light was from the streetlights outside, and the glowing sign of the hotel. Jean-Claude stepped into that faint glow. His shirt had a collar so high it covered his neck completely. Mother-of-pearl buttons fastened the high collar so that his face was framed by the white, white fabric. There must have been a dozen buttons gleaming down the pleated front of his shirt. A black waist-high jacket that was almost too black to be seen hid the sleeves. Only the shirt's cuffs showed; wide and stiff, covering half his hand. He raised a hand to the light and the cuffs bent back underneath to give his hand a full range of motion. His tight black pants were stuffed into another pair of black boots. They came all the way up his legs, so that he was encased in leather; black on black buckled straps held the soft leather in place.
"Do you like it?" he asked.
"Yeah, it's spiffy."
"Spiffy?" There was an edge of humor to that one word.
"You just can't take a compliment," I said.
"My apologies, ma petite. It was a compliment. Thank you."
"Don't mention it. Can we go get your coffin now?"
He stepped out of the light, so I couldn't see his face. "You make it sound so simple, ma petite."
"Isn't it?"
Silence then, so thick the room felt empty. I almost called out to him; instead I walked to the bar and turned on the track lighting above it. The soft white light glowed in the dark like a lighted cave. I felt better with the light. But with my back to where I thought he should be, I couldn't sense Jean-Claude. The room felt empty. I turned and there he was, sitting in one of the chairs. Even when I looked at him, there was no sense of movement. It was like a stop-action picture waiting for the switch to go on.
"I wish you wouldn't do that," I said.
He turned his head and looked at me. His eyes were solid darkness. The faint light picked up blue sparks from them. "Do what, ma petite?"
I shook my head. "Nothing. What's so complicated about tonight? I feel like you're not telling me everything."
He stood in one smooth motion almost like he skipped part of the process, and was just suddenly on his feet. "It is within our rules for Serephina to challenge me tonight."
"Is that the master's name, Serephina?"
He nodded.
"You don't think I'll tell the cops?"
"I will take you to her, ma petite. There will be no time for your impatience to make you foolish."
If I'd been stuck here all day with nothing much to do, but had had the name, would I have tried to find her on my own? Yeah, I would have.
"Fine, let's go."
He paced the room, smiling and shaking his head. "Ma petite, do you understand what it will mean if she challenges me tonight?"
"It means we fight them, right?"
He stopped pacing and came into the light. He slid onto one of the bar stools. "There is no fear in you, none."
I shrugged. "Being afraid doesn't help. Being prepared does. Are you afraid of her?" I looked at him, trying to read that lovely mask.
"I do not fear her power. I believe us to be near equals in that, but let us say I am wary. All things being equal, I am still in her territory with only one of my wolves, my human servant, and Monsieur Lawrence. It is not the show of force I would have chosen to confront her after two centuries.
"Why didn't you bring more people? More werewolves, anyway."
"If I had had time to negotiate more of an entourage I would have, but with the rush..." He looked at me. "There was no time to bargain."
"Are you in danger?"
He laughed, and it wasn't entirely pleasant. "Am I in danger, she asks. When the council asked me to divide my lands, they promised to set in place someone of power equal to or less than mine. But they did not expect me to enter her territory so unprepared."
"Who are they? What council?"
He cocked his head to one side. "Have you really come among us so long and not heard of our council?"
"Just tell me," I said.
"We have a council, ma petite. It has existed for a very long time. It is not so much a governing body as a court, or police, perhaps. Before your courts made us citizens with rights, we had very few rules, and only one law. Thou shalt not draw attention to yourself. That's the law that Tepes forgot."
"Tepes," I said, "Vlad Tepes? You mean Dracula?"
Jean-Claude just looked at me. His face was perfectly blank, no expression. He looked like a particularly lovely statue, if a statue's eyes could glitter like sapphires. I could not read that expressionless face, nor was I meant to.
"I don't believe you."
"About the council, our law, or Tepes?"
"The last part."
"Oh, I assure you we did kill him."
"You make it sound like you were around when it happened. He died in, what, the 1300s?"
"Was it 1476, or was it 1477?" He made a great show of trying to remember.
"You are not that old," I said.
"Are you sure, ma petite?" He turned that unnervingly blank face to me; even his eyes went dead and empty. It was like looking at a well-constructed doll.
"Yeah, I'm sure."
He smiled, and sighed. Life, for lack of a better word, rushed back into his face, his body. It was like watching Pinocchio spring to life.
"Shit."
"So nice to know that I can still unnerve you from time to time, ma petite." I let that go. He knew exactly the effect he had on me. "If Serephina is your equal, then you take care of her, and I'll shoot everybody else."
"You know it will not be that simple."
"It never is."
He stared at me, smiling.
"Do you really think she'll challenge you?"
"No, but I wanted you to know that she could."
"Is there anything else I need to know?"
He smiled wide enough to flash a little bit of fang. He looked wonderful in the light. His skin was pale but not too pale. I touched his hand. "You're warm."
He glanced up at me. "Yes, ma petite; what of it?"
"You've slept an entire day. You should be cold to the touch until after you've fed."
He just looked at me with his drowning eyes.
"Shit," I said. I went for the bedroom. He didn't try to stop me. He didn't even try. It made me nervous. I was half-running by the time I hit the door.
All I could see was a pale outline on the bed. I turned on the switch by the door. The overhead light was glaring, and merciless.